I have liked MDZ's game. When I *****ed about him last year and was happy to see him sent down to Hartford, it was because it was clearly necessary.

Now, we see clear proof that he knew what he had to fix, and that he is doing it. How many times do we see him make those long, hopeless stretch passes that never go to a teammate? Not very often, compared to last season.

To me, the guy is getting back on track. Not perfect, but think about how he will look one year from now, probably better again.

Man, were people crapping on this guy last year or what? ....and they still do.

I love the kid. he wasn't even that bad last year. Was he good? No, but his defensive game had improved from the prior season. Problem is, his defense still wasn't good enough for the NHL, and with his non-productive offensive game, he was sent back down. Which I disagreed with, because he was still better than Gilroy in nearly every facet of the game.

He's been a revelation this year. Become a true top-4 puck mover. He has his moments (mainly due to his sub-par skating), but the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. He has been a HUGE part of this team's success, stepping up in the absence of Staal/Sauer.

Eminger's thinking on receiving the hat: "Ahhh ****, I only got it because I haven't gotten it so far. Hags was much more deserving of it." He played a very solid game, I believe because Sauer was absent, he got the hat.

I love the kid. he wasn't even that bad last year. Was he good? No, but his defensive game had improved from the prior season. Problem is, his defense still wasn't good enough for the NHL, and with his non-productive offensive game, he was sent back down. Which I disagreed with, because he was still better than Gilroy in nearly every facet of the game.

He's been a revelation this year. Become a true top-4 puck mover. He has his moments (mainly due to his sub-par skating), but the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. He has been a HUGE part of this team's success, stepping up in the absence of Staal/Sauer.

If he can somehow really work on his skating and his shot he's going to be an elite player in this league. He's got the vision and the passing, and now he's figured out how to play some above-average defense.

If he can somehow really work on his skating and his shot he's going to be an elite player in this league. He's got the vision and the passing, and now he's figured out how to play some above-average defense.

Team leading +11. He's even killing penalties well at this point.

That's his main issue. Just watching him skate is painful, looks like he's trying to carve up the ice. Too many strides (they don't even qualify as strides, really). So choppy.

I love the kid. he wasn't even that bad last year. Was he good? No, but his defensive game had improved from the prior season. Problem is, his defense still wasn't good enough for the NHL, and with his non-productive offensive game, he was sent back down. Which I disagreed with, because he was still better than Gilroy in nearly every facet of the game.

He's been a revelation this year. Become a true top-4 puck mover. He has his moments (mainly due to his sub-par skating), but the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. He has been a HUGE part of this team's success, stepping up in the absence of Staal/Sauer.

It's always been in Del Zotto's head. When he gets cocky he plays overconfident, over-reads plays, and isn't mentally focused. In August he was tweeting that he was taking a break from Twitter to get focused. All summer he talked about busting his ass.